After fiddling around with the game for a few days, I decided to do an AAR. I’ll be playing Caesar whose quote “Alea Jacta Est” (The die is cast) is the inspiration for the games title. The AI will be handling Pompey and the Senate.

For my opening move, Caesar moves to Rome. Plenty of leaders appear in Rome proper as the game unfolds, so I send the other leaders who start with Caesar west into Gaul where leadership is lacking. Curio goes to Narbo Martius, Orca goes to Lugdunum and Tubero goes to Treverii.

Curio will divide the forces at Narbo Martius with Caius Fabius next turn and move west to Tolosa to take up defense there. These two forces will then try and hold back any incursions from the Senate forces in Hispania.

Orca will be assigned to a legion at Lugdunum and that force will move to besiege Massalia next turn.

I sent Tubero to the far north of Gaul due to the large patrol and evasion penalty his traits give to any stack he is a part of. I don’t know if it matters or not, but in an earlier playing of this scenario that I ran to get the hang of things, a trade caravan was reported wiped out in the area of Treverii.

In that game I had moved the legion that starts at Treverii south and there was nothing left but a militia in the city, so perhaps it was the fact I had no legion left there that got that event to fire, so this time Tubero and his legion shall remain there to see if it helps protect the caravan.

I didn’t play very far into that earlier playing, as my curiosity had me playing all the different scenarios for a year or two from all the different sides just to get the feel for things. So this endeavor will be my first playing of any scenario through to the end.

The Pompeians are reported to have raised more money and organized minor games.

As Caesar enters Rome, all of the Italian boot falls under our control. Caesar is ordered to continue on south to Sicily.

Marcus Antonius appears at Rome and is ordered to Massalia to take command of the forces marching south from Lugdunum.

Another 2 star general Sulla appears in Rome and is sent northeast to Aquilea where he will take command of two legions that are ordered there from Taurasia this turn. This force will ultimately go to Salonae to defend the capital of Dalmatia.

Dolabella and his fleet are activated this turn at Ravenna and they are sent to Lissus to await the activation of Crassus and his auxiliary unit in two turns. When they activate, these units will be sea lifted to Salonae to join Sulla’s force.

Decimus and his fleet are activated at Genua this turn and sent to Neapolis to merge with another Roman fleet in that port.

Bad omens strike this turn costing me 1 national morale.

The Pompey dilemma and Massalia declares for Pompey events occur this turn. Next turn will tell us whether Pompey decides to head east or west.

With the plunder of Rome, I can afford some production this turn. 2 legions, 1 equites and 1 supply wagon are built in Rome.

5 Merchant decisions are played on cities in Italy.

This turns screenshot shows the area around southeast Gaul. The two stacks at Narbo Martius each contain 2 legions and the force headed to Massalia (the force selected) contains 3.

5 Trade post decisions are played on the regions of last turns merchants.

With Caesar’s arrival at Messana, Cato and the senate forces abandon Sicily. After two months of running around the length of Italy Caesar’s troops need a rest and remain in place this turn. Next turn I’ll send him back to Rome.

Antonius’ troops continue the siege of Massalia, but I detach the XIV legion and order it to Rome. It will join Caesar there next turn.

Juba, the King of Numidia warns Caesar this turn not to set foot in Africa. We’ll have to teach this upstart King a lesson in Roman warfare. Rome needs grain, and the easiest addition I can see to Rome’s grain coffers is in Tunisia, so as soon as the two new legions are finished building in Rome, this is my first planned campaign for Caesar.

I learned my lesson on the first play through not to leave Italy empty of units. So I’ll try and keep a minimum of two legions in Rome to defend against Senate naval invasions. For now Caesar’s force will defend until the new troops take up arms

I spend a total of 20 Denarii and 10 EP to buy Gallic and German mercenaries this turn. I also purchase a few replacement chits.

Curiously there is no announcement about whether Pompey chose to go east or west this turn. I hope I’ll get some Intel about the move eventually.

I have no idea why my morale dropped by 5 this turn... With the addition of Sicily you'd think it would have gone up. Edit: I figured it out. I bought 3 legate replacment chits and they cost 30 denarii and 2 morale each. OUCH!

Antonius’ Army makes 1 breach at Massalia and scores 20 hits against defending forces. A mouse-over shows about a 2-1 power advantage, so I order a full assault. I know it’s a size 2 fort which requires 2 breaches to assault, but I’m not sure if sieges are checked before or after assaults get checked, so I’m hoping we can both make a second breach and then assault the city next turn.

Crassus and his auxiliary unit got a nasty surprise at Lissus this turn. Pompey himself leading a legion and 3 cohorts of marines attacked this turn. While Crassus managed to successfully roll a retreat from combat, the event text stated that all 4 cohorts of auxiliaries were pursued and destroyed. Crassus is found recovering from his wounds in Brundisium and will be out of action for the next 5 months.

Luckily only 8 of the 11 militia cohorts defending inside Lissus were destroyed (battle was reported as a victory and I gained 1 NM), so the city remains in my hands for this turn. Dolabella and his tiny fleet are ordered out of port and sent north to the Dalmatian capital of Salonae. Sulla’s 2 legions will arrive in Salonae in 17 days, to set up a defense.

I normally would have tried to get Dolabella’s fleet to Sicily to merge with the rest of my fleets, but there are 4 storm zones between the boot of Italy and the Macedonian coast. There is also a much larger Pompeian fleet just north of Tarentum, so scooting north to a hopefully safe harbor appears to be the best option this turn.

While the attack on Lissus gave it away, it was announced this turn that Pompey chose to remain in the east.

The grain supply event occurred this turn and I lost 2 NM due to low supplies of grain.

The Egyptian Civil war event also occurred and announced Cleopatra and her brother are now at war. I guess I should try and get Caesar to Egypt ASAP to see what kind of events may occur (haven’t tried it yet so I have no idea what happens). Though I’ll have to wait until the troops in Rome are trained as I have no other defense in all of Italy except Caesar and his two legions.

My NM losses are giving me fits again this turn. This time it says I lost 6 NM from units replacements even though I made no purchases at all this turn that required national morale. Can anyone explain what happened that could have caused this?

I suspect that the 4 destroyed auxiliary cohorts may have something to do with it, but the fact only 4 were lost and 6 morale was lost means that probably isn’t the cause. Something as severe as 6 NM needs to be explained to players via text.

Calvinus a two star leader appeared in Italy this turn. He will go to Rome and take command of the forces training there.

Lots of naval replacement chits were purchased this turn.

In addition to the screenshot I’ll attach a save file this turn so it can be looked at to see what happened to the 6 NM.

Antonius inflicts another 10 hits against the defenders inside Massalia, but no second breach is achieved so no assault occurs. I leave his army with red/red assault orders in the hopes he can attack soon.

More of my militia musters in defense of Lissus, but after 2 assaults, Pompey takes the city. No NM is lost or gained in these attacks nor by the loss of the city.

Caesar’s troops reach Rome and take up defenses. Calvinus joins the two legions training inside the city.

Sulla’s Corp arrived at Salonae and takes up defensive positions.

Off the coast of Sicily a large Pompeian fleet is spotted. A mouse-over shows the fleet has suffered some serious damage, possibly this is the fleet seen north of Tarentum last turn and it sailed through the storms I saw around the boot of Italy last turn. Not one to let opportunity slip away, I order my fleet at Syracusae to pursue.

If the mouse-over pop-up is to be trusted, I appear to have a decided leadership advantage as well (Decimus is a 4-4-4), so things should go well for my fleet. The other fleet tab seen in the screen shot are from a fleet that is still fixed and unable to move yet.

I spend 10 Denarii and 5 EP on another German mercenary cavalry unit that became available this turn.

I purchase 5 supply train replacement chits this turn.

Labienus has betrayed Caesar and gone over to the Senate via event this turn.

Antonius inflicts 5 hits to Massalia defenders, no second breach is achieved.

Just south of Rome at Capua, Cato lands with 2 Auxiliary units and sets siege to the city. Caesar’s force at Rome is ordered to pursue. Caesar is now in personal command (I’ve attached him to the unit) of my marines, I found them hiding inside Genua last turn and ordered them to Rome. His force now has a power rating of 1129.

Off the coast of Sicily, Decimus’ fleet engages the fleet of Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. While the battle is listed as a victory, losses are high for both sides and no NM is gained or lost. We did manage to inflict 32 hits on the routed fleet however, so it’s not a total stalemate. Even with all the previous storm damage the much heavier ships of the Pompeian fleet roughly handled my, on average, much lighter ships.

I thought about ordering a pursuit, but I’ve seen at least 2 other Pompeian fleets near Sicily recently and I have no idea where they are except there is at least one fleet for sure a short ways north near Capua that landed Cato this turn. Decimus is ordered back into port for rebuilding and repairs.

The VII legion and some auxiliary units become unlocked in central Gaul at Lutetia this turn and they are ordered south to join Antonius. I’m hoping there is no event driven reason to maintain a legion sized garrison at Lutetia the way I believe I need to maintain the one I have at Treverii, though I suspect there may be.

I forgot to mention last turn I had ordered Dolabella’s fleet to Brundisium last turn since the storms had abated. So this turn he has merged with the fleet there and now has orders to sail to Syracusae to merge with all my other fleets into one large fleet. That should make my fleet large enough to stand up to the heavier ships of the Pompeian fleets and allow some overseas adventuring to begin.

Antonius inflicts 5 hits to Massalia defenders, but the best news is we finally achieve a second breach. So it looks like assaults are checked before siege as no assault went in. So the assault will have to go in this turn. Antonius’ stack has a power rating of 973 and a mouse-over shows the garrison has 14 units with a power of 453. The legion from Lutetia won’t arrive for 13 more days so probably won’t be a factor in the fighting.

At Capua Caesar’s force wipes out all 8 auxilliary cohorts commanded by Cato. 3,000 weapons and 2,000 prisoners are taken.

On a more nerve wracking note, Pompey makes a dash straight for the Dalmatian capital city of Salonae this turn bypassing many Caesarian controlled cities along the way. Sulla’s force of 2 legions and 2 supply wagons is engaged by Pompey’s force of 2 legions.

Even though Sulla defended behind level 2 entrenchments and Pompey marched for two weeks through wooded and hilly terrain, the battle is a close run thing and ends in stalemate. Sulla suffered almost 1,000 more men lost though, so I’m very worried about next turn’s probable battle. Sulla is given hold at all costs orders for next turn.

At Rome Calvinus’ legions are finished training and his force takes up positions outside the city. With two new legions active in Italy, Caesar is now free to do something else.

Unfortunately it won’t be anything I particularly want to do. Instead my hand is forced due to events this turn.

In Africa Numidia has joined the Senate in their war vs. Caesar. Thus freeing up the Numidian armies to attack me. Likely early targets for the Numidians are probably Sicily or perhaps Neapolis.

In the east Parthia signs a peace deal with the Senate in exchange for Syria. A quick check of the map shows Damascus has changed hands, but so far no coastal bases, so Parthia may still be kept from getting at me unless they are allowed to move through senate controlled territory. But even if they can, without a controlled port on the Mediterranean they won’t be able to cause me much grief until/unless I start fighting in the east.

The worst part of this peace deal is the eastern Senatorial legions are now unlocked. In Antiochia Scipio’s stack has 3 green dots, which is more powerful than Caesars stack with 2 green dots. So Pompey has just received quite a big power boost in new troops. Looks like I need to build some more legions.

So it looks like my intended move to Egypt with Caesar to see what might happen there event wise will have to wait. Instead he’ll move to Sicily and defend. Once my fleet has finished its repairs, he’ll invade Africa if the Numidians haven’t attacked me first.

Another grain event occurred this turn and I lost 5 EP and 2 NM. That’s twice so far this year… I need more grain ASAP. Anyone know how much you need to control to stop these events from occurring?

At Salonae Pompey remains in the region but does not attack. This allowed my troops to replace losses and recover cohesion, so I’m feeling much more confident about their ability to hold. A mouse-over shows Pompey’s troops power level to be 274 and mine are now up to 436, so things look good.

Antonius causes another 5 hits to the troops inside Massalia and then the assault goes in. 18,000 weapons and 11,000 men are captured. We also captured a damaged Hellenistic fleet and a damaged supply wagon unit. We suffer almost 1,800 casualties and gain 1 NM.

I was going to place Antonius’ troops inside Massalia for a turn for recovery, but a Pompeian fleet is spotted southwest of Massalia this turn with 5 legions aboard. So it looks like a large naval invasion is afoot, so Antonius will remain outside the city in defensive posture pending developments.

Caesar reached Syracusae this turn where he shall remain until my fleet is finished repairing. I have now merged all my naval units (except the newly captured Hellenistic fleet) into one large Roman fleet with a power rating of 1850. It may get above 2k once repairs are finished. I still only have 3 heavy fleet units, but the combined power of my fleets should make up for the overall light nature of my fleet units.

I recruit prisoners this turn for a cost of 15 EP and 6000 prisoners. Next turn a new under-strength legion should appear somewhere in Italy. I also had the option to sell prisoners, but with only 13,000 total prisoners in the pool I wanted to keep it above 6,000 for a possible repeat event that would allow a second legion to be recruited from my prisoners.

In a flip of previous NM unsolved mysteries, this turn I gained 2 NM from an unknown source. I started with 96, gained one for the Massalia battle, yet ended the turn with 99. The mouse-over gives no clues as to where the extra morale came from.

Merchant fleets bring in 16 Denarii and unit upkeep costs 36 Denarii. The 5 Trade Post decisions played in Italy a while back completed this turn and 500 Denarii are placed into my coffers. I immediately re-play the decisions again.

In Sicily my fleet units have finished their repairs, so Caesar’s army is loaded and given distant unload orders to land at Utica in Tunisia. Hopefully the Numidians haven’t left Africa yet, I’d hate to have to just re-embark and return due to them landing in Sicily next turn.

In southeast Gaul, a large Pompeian army lands at Ambrussum between the cities of Narbo Martius and Massalia. Antonius is ordered to march north then west across the Rhodani River, then he has orders to march south and pursue the Pompeian force.

The total estimated time for the march is 6 days, the same time it would have taken to march due west across the river. So I’m not losing any time, the only thing I risk by the move is the Pompeian army heading due east behind me. But with a level 2 fort he won’t be able to re-take Massalia by storm, so I’m comfortable with the move.

Curio’s Corp at Narbo Martius shall remain behind its level 8 entrenchments in a defensive posture. Hopefully it can stand up to any assaults that may occur before Antonius’ Army can catch the invaders.

At Salonae Pompey has disappeared. But a new force of 2 equites cavalry lead by the one star general Decimus Laelius has appeared at the city of Epidaurus and set siege. It’s the next Dalmatian city up the coast north of Lissus, I do not plan to contest it as Pompey still lurks out there somewhere in Illyria with his 2 legions.

Crassus recovered from his wounds this turn and is sent to Neapolis to take personal command of the new legion recruited from the prisoners this turn. A two star general Aulus Gabinius appeared in Rome this turn and is also sent to Neapolis to take overall command of what will eventually be a 2 legion force.

I spend most of the 500 Denarii gained via the trade post decisions on fleshing out the replacement chit pools.

Sorry about the screenshot for turn 8. There appears to be some kind of auto-correct feature that reduces the images I upload and I have no idea how to force it to use the same image resolution that I upload. Anyone know how to fix this?

James, do you still have all your turns? I would like to see the AI process in amphibious invasion... this is a very complex mechanism and I'm positively surprised by this invasion force of 5 legions you cite

As for NM losses, I guess you inspect the NM tooltip and it says nothing that can clarify the trouble, right?

Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

Pocus wrote:James, do you still have all your turns? I would like to see the AI process in amphibious invasion... this is a very complex mechanism and I'm positively surprised by this invasion force of 5 legions you cite

As for NM losses, I guess you inspect the NM tooltip and it says nothing that can clarify the trouble, right?

I've played another two turns but here is the full save. Unfortunately the invasion was wiped out to a man... but the fact it appears to have moved through storms in the screenshot for turn 8, means it wasn't up to fighting strength I guess. It would be nice if the AI was forbidden from moving through storms. Or perhaps allow it to move but just give severe movement and cohesion loss not strength loss.

Merchant fleets bring in 16 Denarii and unit upkeep costs 37 Denarii. In Neapolis the merchant and trade post decisions are cancelled, so I play a merchant decision this turn at Croton.

The new legion at Neapolis is finished this turn and Crassus assumes command of it. It then joins the two star general Aulus and takes up the defense outside the city. It’s just in time as a large invasion force is spotted just south of Neapolis.

For this turn I leave Calvinus and his two legions on defense in Rome. If a landing occurs at Neapolis, he’ll march down next turn as I don’t want to leave Rome empty of troops due to the fact it only has a fort size of 1 and can be stormed on the turn of a landing. So for now the single legion will have to defend Neapolis by itself for this turn.

At Narbo Martius, Lucius Afranius and his five Pompeian legions attack Curio and his two defending legions. The battle results in a Caesarian victory and I capture 4,000 weapons and take 2,500 Prisoners. I also gain 1 NM for the victory.

Seven days later Antonius arrives with his three legions and attacks the just defeated Pompeian force. The result is a resounding victory with 14,000 weapons and 9,000 prisoners captured. 22 hits are scored on the retreating army and I gain 10 NM as a result of the victory.

The surviving Pompeian army retreated back northeast to the region of Ambrussum. Antonius is given orders to pursue.

I made the mistake of giving my invasion fleet orders to intercept nearby passing fleets. My thinking was they would stop and fight any Numidian fleets they passed that were perhaps about to invade Sicily. Instead what happened was they reached the coast of Tunisia and started to unload Caesar’s troops. But before the unloading could finish, an enemy fleet appeared nearby and my fleet moved to intercept.

While the naval battle was a resounding success netting me 2 NM and lots of enemy ships were sunk, Caesar’s troops suffered about 30%-50% cohesion loss due to the aborted unloading. I’ve disabled the intercept command and ordered Caesar ashore, I hope it won’t affect the upcoming land battle too severely. Intel spots Cato commanding 2 Phalanx units and an auxilliary unit in the target region of Utica.

The Pompeians are reported to have raised more money this turn.

Another grain event occurs in Rome and I lose another 5 EP and 2 NM.

2 new generals a two star and a one star appear in Salonae this turn. They are ordered to Rome to join the defending stack there. For now I have no troops that need them, so they’ll be assigned units as soon as I can afford some new production.

Overall this was a tremendously successful turn for the cause and is probably the turning point for the war. NM grew by a net of 11 points getting me well above 100 for the first time all game. Given how roughly the five Pompeian legions in southeast Gaul were handled this turn, I predict the total destruction of those troops will occur over the next few turns. The only possible hope for them would be a naval evacuation, and I doubt the AI is up to a complex operation like that.

So as soon as the destruction of the Pompeian legions is complete, Hispania (I assume that’s where the legions came from) should be ripe for the picking. Antonius’ 3 legions and the 4 other legions in southern Gaul commanded by Curio and Fabius should make short work of it.

In Italy, King Jubal and an army of 26,000+ lands at Capua and takes the city after two assaults. Jubal’s losses were minor. Calvinus’ Corps in Rome is given orders to pursue. At Neapolis Aulus is left in defensive mode as Jubal is between him and Rome and there is no way to merge the two forces before a battle occurs.

In Ambrussum Antonius fights two battles with the surviving Pompeians and pretty much destroys them. In total between the two battles, 42,000 weapons and 26,500 prisoners are captured.

In addition I gain 17 NM between the two battles… I’m almost embarrassed by this. It seems far too high and decisive a reward for the small percentage of Pompey’s force lost here. He still has roughly 127 percent of my forces left on map but the morale loss means he’s all but cooked at this point with just 64 NM left. I’m not sure what sudden death levels are, but it’s got to be getting close and I’m less than one year into the campaign.

Antonius is given move orders that sweep the surrounding countryside in an attempt to find any survivors (Ucetia region shows as enemy controlled but no troops seen). His move plots end in Narbo Martius with orders to enter the city. Fabius and Caius are both ordered south. One goes to Emporiae the other to Tarraco.

Near Tunisia Caesar gets ashore and Cato flees west without engaging. Off shore another naval battle then ensues and losses are very heavy for both sides, though I score the victory and another 2 NM. After this battle my navy is in tatters and I order it back to Syracusae for repairs.

Caesar sets siege to Utica and has 322 supply points on hand with a usage of 81 a turn, so hopefully my navy can get back before supplies run out. Because Caesar has landed in Africa, I am awarded 1 NM, 5 EP and a gain of 25 loyalty in theatre.

Ebbingford wrote:You need to control the grain from Spain, Sicily and Africa to suffer no penalties.

The missing NM which is not mentioned in the tooltip is often from taking or losing strategic cities.

Thanks for the info on the grain. Question though, will Tunisia's grain suffice or does it have to be Spain + Egypt?

The mouse-over pop-up (it's imbedded in the turn’s screenshot) stated the -6 morale loss was for unit replacements. But I purchased nothing that turn and no fighting had occurred as of yet, so I was, and still am, at a total loss to explain it. The only thing I can think it might be is for the 3 legate chits I purchased the turn before. Which means I was charged twice, once on the turn of purchase and again the next turn.